Police are continuing their investigation into the death of
a gay San Francisco man who was found injured in the Duboce Triangle
neighborhood last week.

Bryan Higgins, 31, was found on the ground at about 7:30
a.m. Sunday, August 10 near Church Street and Duboce Avenue. He died three days
later in San Francisco General Hospital after his family took him off life
support.

Friends and family are recalling their love for Higgins,
while some indicated he had been troubled in the days before he died.

Officer Albie Esparza, a spokesman for the San Francisco
Police Department, has said Higgins's injuries were initially investigated as
an attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, but since Higgins was
taken off life support, the police homicide unit is investigating the case.

Esparza has described the suspect in Higgins's death as a
white male in his 20s or 30s wearing a gray hoodie, based on video surveillance
footage. As of Tuesday, August 19, police weren't releasing photos of the
suspect, and no arrests had been announced.

It's likely to be several months before the medical
examiner's office releases the cause and manner of Higgins's death.

Vigil

At 3:30 p.m. last Wednesday, August 13, around the time
Higgins was being removed from life support, about 200 people held hands and
formed a circle at Duboce Park as burning incense drifted through the air and
Muni trains ground along in the background.

Near one edge of the circle, an altar with flowers, candles,
and glittery cloths sat on top of a large rainbow flag. Toward the end, a man
called for several minutes of silence.

At about 3:38 p.m. he said, "Our brother is now at
peace."

Michael Higgins, 34, last spoke with his brother Bryan the
Friday before he died.

"I don't feel like it's real," Higgins, who lives
in Galveston, Texas, said in a phone interview. "I don't want to believe
the last time I talked to my brother on the phone, that was it."

He said Higgins was "full of energy" and
"very spiritual." Whenever he visited his brother, "he was
always giving me his stuff," including his bedroom. "He always put me
first," he said.

Higgins described his brother as a "trendsetter."

"He did things Bryan's way, and he didn't care what
other people thought," he said. "That was his way." But he was
also "forgiving" and "nonjudgmental," Higgins said.

Higgins, who was originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan,
"loved San Francisco," but in their last conversation, he said he
missed his family and wished "we could all be close together,"
Michael Higgins said.

Police are "really not saying much" about Bryan
Higgins's death, his brother said.

Brian Hagerty, Bryan Higgins's husband, told a reporter who
came to the couple's Noe Street apartment this week, "I'm not ready to
talk yet."

The location where Higgins was found is near a Muni train
line and a 24-hour Safeway.

Kenny King, 49, lives near the scene and said the area can
be rough.

"I do my fair share" of calling the police for
"quality of life issues," such as "loud screaming and
arguing," he said.

Last days

Brian Busta, 50, was a neighbor and close friend of Bryan
Higgins's.

"He was just really super free-spirited" and
"creative," said Busta. "He was really a joy to be around."

Higgins was a member of the Faerie community, and Busta said
that Higgins's Faerie name, Feather Lynn, fit him, since he was "flighty
like a feather" and would "bop around."

But like others who saw Higgins in the days before he died,
Busta suggested Higgins had been troubled.

The last time Busta saw Higgins was just hours before he was
found.

"I was taking care of him on Saturday night,"
Busta, who'd known Higgins for six years, said. He said Higgins had been
dealing with "medical issues."

Saturday, Higgins had been "getting too out of hand,
running around like a cat in a cage," Busta said.

"We were trying to get the police here so we could get
Feather into General [Hospital]," he said.

The first time police came, around 8 p.m., Higgins
"took off out the back," and the officers left, Busta said. He and
others "calmed [Higgins] down," but police were called back at about
midnight, he said. Higgins had settled down again, though, he said.

The police said unless Higgins was a danger to himself or
others, they couldn't do anything, Busta said. The Department of Emergency
Management hasn't yet confirmed the calls for service.

Higgins eventually became "really mellow," Busta
said. Friends assume he went to the park, where he liked to visit, at about 7
a.m. Sunday, just before he was found, Busta said, although he didn't see
Higgins get up and go to the park.

"He was in and out so much in the last couple of days,
it was hard to keep track of him," he said.

Busta said his friend hadn't seemed dangerous. "If
anything, he was being super-crazy spiritual," he said, and "doing
little ritual things" like "playing with feathers."

Higgins had been helping out at Rosenberg Deli, near his
home. Issa Kort, 54, the shop's co-owner, said he thought of Higgins like a
son.

"He was a great guy, and everybody loves him,"
Kort said. They used to drink coffee and smoke cigarettes together in the
morning, and Higgins mentored Kort's son on a high school graduation project.

But two or three weeks before Higgins died, Kort noticed he
was acting differently.

Sometimes he'd be "normal," but "other times
he acted so strange," Kort said. He'd be "talking nonsense," he
said, discussing things like the brain and spirits without connecting his
thoughts.

"I just stood and listened to him ... I didn't want to
hurt his feelings," Kort said.

Asked if it had seemed like his brother had been having any
trouble, Michael Higgins said, "No, not really."